The origin of music in advertising goes back to street cries, which go back further than the 13th century. Long before jingles, merchants, in an attempt to pique their customers’ curiosity and draw them to their shops or get their products noticed, would sing songs, or recite rhymes about their products. One of the earliest collections of French polyphony contains an example of an advertising street cry roughly translating to ‘Fresh strawberries! Nice blackberries!’
Gradually, the role of music evolved from street cries to jingles, candy-coated sales pitches, and entertaining full-length songs for audio garnishing.
While we do not come across jingles in advertising as much these days, over the past few years, the use of popular music and needle-drop music has increased. According to a study by D Allan of three thousand prime-time commercials, 14% of the commercials used popular music, 81% used needle drop music (generic, multipurpose music) and only 5% used jingles. Even though popular music and jingles have empirical data that prove their effectiveness in producing meaningful relationships between the consumer and the brand, most brands and advertisers prefer to use needle-drop music as it is cheaper to license and requires minimum effort in editing.
The role of music is even further evolving where brands are creating a portfolio of sounds, music, and voiceovers that collectively contribute to the brand’s personality. The entire exercise is categorized under branding and is termed audio/sound branding.
To describe audio branding more aptly, it is the process of brand development and management with the help of audible elements that are used across various frameworks of brand communication. Audio branding is a part of multi-sensory communication and holistic design that helps brands stand out among their competitors.
While some brands are still understanding and embracing the role of music in advertising, others have cracked the code and are incorporating music in their advertising campaigns. After going through a few examples of the best use of music in advertising, we will also be looking at the worst of the lot and the lessons we can take away from their mistakes.
Editor’s Note: To curate this list, we dug deep into the ads we have always hummed to, the ones people all over the internet like or dislike, and the ones recognized and criticized by industry leaders and well-known forums. It is partly objective as we also looked at their impact on the overall success of the campaigns, and partly subjective as we shared some of our favorites that followed industry best practices.
Examples of Best Use of Music in Ads
You know it is the best of advertising when you are left humming the tune of the jingle, strings (5 seconds or less), or soundtracks for the rest of the day. These ads, their visuals, and their music live rent-free in our heads until we come across another ad with music that matches the brilliance of the last one.
Here are the examples of the best use of music in ads – the ads that we hum long after watching them and by the end of this article, you might, too.
1. McDonald’s McDelivery – Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen
Released in July 2021 in the U.K., McDonald’s ‘There’s nothing quite like a McDelivery’ was quite a hit. The campaign was released in two parts – ‘Hungry Eyes’ and ‘My House, My Rules’ with the intent to communicate the unique experience of McDelivery and position McDelivery as an option to order McDonald’s alongside Uber Eats and Just Eat.
The campaign revolves around house-bound hungry people who are eagerly waiting for the arrival of their McDelivery. The video is complemented by the soundtrack Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen which gives the video a complete 80s vibe that is quite aligned with their intent to evoke nostalgia and celebrate the unique and long-standing relationship between the brand and its customers. The song is popular from when it was used in the mega-hit movie, Dirty Dancing.
When the expressive nature of the eyes of people in the ad is paired with nostalgic music like Hungry Eyes, it leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the viewers.
The second part of the campaign ‘My House, My Rules’ uncovers a more intimate relationship McDonald’s shares with its consumers where ‘I Think We Are Alone Now’ by Tiffany plays in the background.
2. Channel N°5, the Film – Team by Lorde Cover
Chanel’s cinematic ad celebrating the history of No. 5 perfume revolves around the French actress, Marion Cotillard dancing on the moon with Jeremie Belingard as Lorde’s version of the song ‘Team’ plays in the background. In the ad, Marion and Jeremie guide and support each other like a team while indulging in an elegant seduction game.
The choice of the song aptly communicates the message as Chanel’s iconic No. 5 perfume represents that true beauty is inequality and joy. The chosen music also does well with their target audience which primarily consists of women aiming to achieve equality and live their dreams!
3. Nike Kyrie 3 – Improve by QuestLove
Nike’s Kyrie 3 launch campaign titled ‘Improve’ features NBA player Kyrie Irving and percussionist Questlove where they conduct an improvement exercise. While Questlove freestyles on his drum set, Kyrie dribbles the basketball by himself in tandem with the beats.
The ad moves ahead with increasing tempo and frequency of Kyrie’s dribbles. At one point, Questlove stops for a microsecond only to vigorously start again. As his drum solo climaxes, Kyrie dunks the ball right in the hoop.
While there is no song in the ad, it stands out on account of the brilliant synergy between the characters, the actions performed, and the music.
In most ads, music is used like a garnish but in this particular Nike ad, the musical element is binding the entire ad, making it more impactful and memorable. The ad agency brilliantly infused musical creativity into their ad concept of improvisation.
4. Apple’s First MacBook Air – New Soul by Yael Naim
Apple has always been known for its brilliant and compelling ads. The way they go about their ads shows the confidence and clarity they have about how they want to market and position their products. In one such ad for the launch of their first-ever MacBook Air, Apple took an unknown song by an unknown artist to make a bold statement that went with the intent of their advertising campaign, ‘Trust us, we know you are going to love this.’
The lyrics of the song, ‘New Soul,’ are perfectly coordinated with the visuals making the video more compelling for the viewer which can directly impact the brand and product recall and recognition.